A New Direction

In my home state of Nevada, in Reno, families are paying $3.12 for the gas they need to drive to work - more than double the price they were paying in 2001. That means they have hundreds of dollars less each month to spend on food, medicine, and their other needs.

In Boulder City, there's a man in a wheelchair I know from church, whose hope has been crushed because President Bush catered to the radical right and vetoed stem cell research last week.

In Las Vegas, there are two families - the Lukac's and Salazar's - who lost their sons in Iraq. Their lives will never be the same, and they're doing everything they can to ensure their sons' sacrifices are honored.

In Pahrump, there's a senior named Robin who found her prescription drugs would cost 8 times more under the President's Medicare drug plan because it was written for drug companies, not for her.

These Nevadans - and the millions of Americans just like them - are who Democrats are standing with today. They've been ignored by the Do Nothing Republican Congress, which has put special interests and a special few first. They've suffered through weeks of debates over non-issues such as marriage, flag desecration, the estate tax, and medical malpractice. Meanwhile, their real problems have only grown worse.

We need a New Direction for America, and that is what Democrats offer. By changing course in Iraq, providing affordable health care, strengthening the middle-class, and embracing science and medical research, the Democratic agenda will unite America and turn away from the divisive politics of the last six years.

We won't pit Big Oil against working families when it's clear we're all better off pursuing a bold new future of energy independence.

We won't force workers to choose between getting by and saving for the future, because we'll protect Social Security, cut taxes for the middle-class, and build an economy where work pays.

And we won't go to war based on trumped up threats; we'll be tough and smart with a foreign policy that concentrates on our real threats, Iran, North Korea, and Osama bin Laden.

To bring our message to the American people, on the first weekend in August, House and Senate Democrats will kick off a coordinated nationwide effort. Already more than 200 town halls, press conferences, and speeches are scheduled.

And this weekend, the DNC will host 750 New Direction for America, Democratic Reunion events around the country. These events include party officials, candidates, sitting members of Congress, Governors. It's a party wide effort to nationalize this race and bring it across the finish line.